Mack: I’m not going to run out of gas against Froch

By Boxing News - 10/10/2012 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Light heavyweight contender Yusaf Mack (31-4-2, 17 KO’s) has been chosen to be the sacrificial lamb for the slaughter for IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s next fight on November 17th in Nottingham, England. Rather than sighing one of the talents in the super middleweight division like Andre Dirrell or Thomas Oosthuizen to fight Froch, Hearn has found 32-year-old Mack, who has a history of fading in some of his fights.

That partly explains Mack’s losses to Alejandro Berrio, Tavoris Cloud and Glen Johnson.

In an interview with Kugan Cassius at IFilm London, Mack said this about his November 17th fight against Froch: “He’s an ‘A’ fighter. He’s [Froch] smart, he’s crafty and he can box. He’s not a banger; he’s just a boxer. Whoever wins will be the smarter guy that night. He can expect me not to run out of gas. I’m going to be in shape. I’m not going to run out of gas. I’ll be ready come fight night. Looking forward to something different.”

I don’t know that I agree with all that Mack said. I don’t see Froch as being much of a boxer. He’s really a slugger and seems to do really well if one of his opponents stands directly in front of him so that he can trade shots. Froch will box if he’s got a short guy with big power in front of him, like Arthur Abraham. It too easy because Abraham’s arms were so much shorter than Froch’s. He would have been crazy not to jab Abraham from long distance to control the fight. However, Andre Dirrell had already created the blueprint in how to beat Abraham before Froch fought him, so that all Froch had to do was copy what Dirrell had previously done and make sure that he kept his guard up at all times in case Abraham decided to foul.

I don’t know what Mack can do about his stamina problem. In almost every fight I’ve seen of his, he runs out of gas by the midpoint of the fight. I don’t expect that to change just because he’s fighting Froch. If Mack were able to change that wouldn’t you think he would have done so ages ago? No, I see Mack tiring fairly early in this fight and losing unless he goes all out in the first four rounds looking to put Froch down like Jermain Taylor did in their fight. If Mack can come out quick against Froch and land a big shot on his mandible, then I can see Mack getting the victory in this fight. Barring that, he’s going to lose. The good news is Mack has better power than Froch and and probably the best power that Froch has faced in ages.



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